Air-operated press



' p 4 D. FOSTER 2,482,539

AIR-OPERATED PRESS Filed Nov. 4, 1945 I v 1 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 71 URI D. FOSTER by biaaiiar'rzeys Sept. 20, 1949. v FOSTER 2,482,539

AIR-OPERATED PRESS Filed Nov. 4, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inven'Z'or 7g URI D. FOSTER v 3/42 273 a; 7n attarney."

Septu. D. 'FOS'IIER 2,482,539

AIR-OPERATED PRESS Filed Nov. 4, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet s Sept. 20, 1949. u. D. FOSTER I AIR-OPERATED PRESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Eiled Nov. 4, 1943 m. T 2 m pm .1 ..-|l J U g Patented Sept. 20, 1949 AIR-OPERATED muss- Uri D Foster, Hartford, Conn, assignor to The Arrow-Hart & Hegeman Electric. (30., Hartford, Comp, a corporation of Connecticut Application November 4, 1943, Serial No. 508-;961 I This invention relates to. air-operated presses:

in which the air is used to. supply the force for" driving one die, into engagement with another.

Presses of this type as heretofore used have not.

been economical, in, their use of compressed air. This hasv increased. unnecessarily, the cost of operating.

It is an object of my invention to. provide an improved form of air-operated press, embodying the features of safety to the operator, economy in operation and simplicity in structure.

It is another object. of the invention to provide. a press of the foregoing type with actuating mechanism requiring the use. of both hands of the operator and embodying structure for opening the inlet valve with a sudden or snap motion.

Another object oi'the invention is to provide for utilization of the exhausted air to remove the.

stamped part from the dies after completion of.

the stamping operation.

Another object is to provide a novel combination of actuating means to insure the closing of the exhaust valve upon the actuation of either one or both of the operating handles and to prevent actuation of the inlet valve until both ha.n. dies are operated. A related'object is to. prevent opening of the exhaustvalve until the inlet valve is closed by the operator removing both hands from the operating handles.-

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as it is described in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings-- Fig 1 is a. side elevation, view of a. press embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section. view of the press of Fig. 1, taken along line.2'-.-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a front elevationview of the press 01" Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section view taken along line 4-1-4 of Fig. 2; a Fig. 5 is .a plan view of' the press-oi Fig. 1; T Fig. 6 is a horizontal section view taken along line 8-1-6 of Fig; l;

Fig. 'l is an elevational detail view of one side of the valves. operating mechanism, with the mechanism in a position intermediate its position in Figs. 1 and 8; 1

Fig. 8 is a viewsimilar to Fig. '1, with the illustrated portion of thevalves operating mechae nism in its fully depressed condition; and

Fig. 9 is a detail section view taken on linev 9--9 of Fig. 2.

.Referring to the drawings, the invention is mounted upon a metal oastingor frame compris 7 ClaimS-..- (01.. 1131-45) ing a. platform or b'ase lt fronronev end of which vertica y is s aunhe ine column 1 Frem the top of the column [A ahorizontally-extending arm I6 overhangs the base I12. From the overhanging end of the arm l6 rises a vertical extension l8, which isvertically: bored to receive a cylindrical piston 20-. To. keep the piston from roto ng. a. flat. por io is f rmed. on the p s n. against which lies the. flair iaceofa key member 2.4 which is held fixedly info-horizontal slot in the front face of extension [8. by: a plate 26 bolted to said face. Y 1- 7 Closing. the top of thebore i9 is a cap member 28 which, rests upon the top ofgthe extension it.

- A uide boss 29 isjformed on the upper surface of the cap 28 audit and the cap are, bored to receive a piston rod; 30, whose lower-endthreads into an internally threaded bore in; thetop of the piston 20. To raise and to normally bias the piston and piston rod upwardly; a coiled compression spring 32 has its lower end seated'upon the top of the cap member 28. while .it's upper end presses against the. under side of a flange. on a collar 36 that is slidably mounted upon the. piston rod 30:. To locatev the collar 36 and thereby to limit and adjust the amount of downward motion of the piston 30, an adjustment nut 38 is threaded upon the top threadedend of the piston rod; and thepposition of adjustment. is maintained by a lock nut 40.

Secured to thelowenend of the piston 20 is a die supporting rod 50 whose upper end is received within a bore 52 in thelowerend of the piston 20 and is secured there by a diametric pin 53. Upon the lower end of the die supporting rod 52 is a die member 54. To'k'eep this die member from rotating on the supporting rod 50 a fiat-bottomed notch 58 is formed in one side of the rod and a pin 56 passes horizontally through the die 54 in such positionas to engage the flat bottom of said notch. Thus, the die is permitted'limited. movement relatively: to-the supporting rod Ell within the length ofthe notch 58. In order to hold the dienormally' 'in-its lower position on the supporting'rod 50, a'compression spring is coiled about the shank ofthe supporting rod, with its upper end pressing against the bottom oi the pisten 20 and its lower 'end pressing upon the top of I the die 54.

To enable compressed aiito enter around the top of the piston 20. a circumferential cut'2l is made there, leaving a-space to'communicate with a passage or bore I0 vertically directed downwardly to communicate with a horizontal bore 12 71 extending through-"the overhanging arml6 of the press frame. The outer end of the bore or passage 12 may be closed by a screw, or in any other convenient fashion.

The inflow of air to the passage I2 is controlled by a manually operated valve which is provided with mechanism to cause the valve to open with a sudden or snap action. This valve comprises a hollow cylindrical plug 80 screwed into a vertical bore 82 through the top of the frame arm IS. The member 80 is centrally bored along its axis to receive the stem 84 of a valve member which has on its lower end an enlarged beveled head 86 adapted to engage and seat upon a similarly tapered seat 88 at the bottom end of the plug. Between the valve head 86 and the valve stem 84 is a reduced neck portion 90 permitting the en trance of air around such neck when the valve head 88 is moved from its seat 88. A plurality of radial passages are drilled through that portion of plug 80 which is within the passage I2 and adjacent the neck 90 of the valve stem to permit passage of air around the neck and head of the valve member when it is unseated.

Provision for entranceof compressed air beneath the head of the valve 86 is made by 'a vertical bore or passage 94 coaxial with, but of less diameter than, the bore 82. Also communicating with this bore 94 is a horizontal passage 86, which is connected by a pipe to a filter device 98 that, in turn, is connected'with a compressed air supply pipe I00. Normally urging the valve head against its seat is a compression spring I 02 located within the bottom of'the bore 94 and pressing a valve-closing plunger I06 upwardly against the bottom of the valve head 88. The upper end of this plunger I06 is preferably of reduced diameter to permit the freepassage of air through the portion of the bore 94 that communicates with the passage 96. 1

In order to compel both hands of the machine operator to be occupied and away from the dies at the time the air'enters the press, two separate actuating handles are provided on opposite sides of the press frame and are coaxially pivoted on a horizontal rod or axle II2 passing through a bearing hole in the column I4 of the press frame. The handles I 08, II have a non-rigid connection with the operating mechanism for the valve stem 84in order to open the valve with a sudden or snap action rather than slowly, as will be more fully apparent from the following description of the details of such mechanism.

4 A transverse bridge or bar member I I6 extends horizontally over the arm I6 of the frame in posi-- tion to receive within'a central socket H7 therein the upwardly extending end of the valve stem' 84. In order to actuate the bridge in a downward direction, a pair of substantially parallel tension rods I I 8, I 20 are connected with opposite ends of the bridge at their upper ends by swivel connections. The'positionofthe bridge on theirods may be adjusted by adjustment nuts I2I on the upper ends of the rods II8, I20. The lower ends of the rods II8, -I20 are-hooked into identical pivot lever arms I22, I24 on opposite sides of the frame and coaxially pivoted about the axle II2 of the operating handles. The arms I24 are connected with'theihandles I08, IIO by identical tension springs I26, so that as either one of the handles I08,'I I0 is-depressed, its associated arm I24 will tend to follow it by reason of the spring connection. In order that the arm I24 may not immediately follow the movement of its actuating handle but shall await a predetermined movement of the handle, a pair of identical latch mem- 4 bers I28 of irregular, somewhat triangular shape (as indicated in Figs. 1, 7 and 8) are pivotally mounted on opposite ends of an axle rod I30 passing through the column I4 of the press frame. Identical lugs I32 extend upwardly from the latch members I28 in position to engage identical shoulders I34 on the lower sides of the pivot arms I24. To normally hold the latch members I28 in such position, identical springs I35 urge the latch members I28 into the position shown in Fig. 1. In order to disengage the lug I32 from shoulder I34 after the handles have descended a predetermined distance and put the arms I24 under tension, an anti friction roller I38, mounted upon the latch member I28 by a laterally extending pin I40, is engaged by the actuating handle when it has descended such predetermined distance. This position of engagement is shown in Fig. '7. Upon further depression of the handle into the position of Fig. 8, it will be observed that the latch member I28 is caused to rotate about its pivot I38 and carry the lug I32 out of engagement with the shoulder I34. Since the depression of the handle has caused the spring I 26 to be stressed, the disengagement of the lug and shoulder will cause the pivoted arm I24 to move in the direction that the operating handle has moved with a sudden or snap action, which will cause a similar sudden or snap action downwardly of the tension rods II8, I20 (provided both handles are moved downwardly at once) and such downward movement will cause the bridge bar IIIS to move the valve stem downwardly to suddenly open the inlet valve;

In order thatthe movement of one handle shall not cause opening of the inlet valve, the movement permitted the arms I 24, I08 and III) is liniited'by identical stop pins I33 fixed in the side faces of the frame'.' The stop pins are so placed that tilting of the bridge bar H6 effected by the depression of one'handle, alone, will not open the inlet valve. To accomplish this purpose, the adjustment of the position of the bridge bar I I6 upon the tension rods I I8, I20 may be made so that (when either one side or the other of the bar is tilted downwardly) the bar will only engage (but not move) inlet valve stem 84. With such adjustment, it will be obvious that upon depression of the other handle to cause both ends'of the transverse bar to be down simultaneously, the stem ofthe inlet valve will be depressed to open and admit compressed air to operate the plunger 20.

The same structure, adjusted by manipulation of the nuts IZI so that the 'nuts'are tight against the bridge bar I I6' would cause opening of the inlet valve 86 with the same sudden snap action previously described when'only'one of the levers I08 or H0 was depressed sufficiently to trip the latch member I28.

In order to return the actuating handles to their original positionwhenthe hands of the operator'a're removed, identical tension springs I44 are attached at one end to the mid-portion of the operating handles and at their other ends to anchor pins" I46 laterally extending' from the sides of the machine framel"" In order to permit exhausting of air from above the piston 20 as it rises under the influence of the spring a passage branching from the passage I2. This passage comprises a three-stepped hole bored vertically upward through the bottom of the over-' hangingarm I Gofthe frame. The bottom or largest portionof the hole receives a hollow plug 32, an exhaust valve is provided in escapeemember 50. wlnchisthreaded into. and secured within said iarzestpertion; .nlcylindrical-valve stem H2 i is slidable within an axial. passageway in them-11g; and theupper end of the ralvestem has an enlarged zbeveled .liead' 54 adapted to seat uponxa beveled seat 456. in the upperend :ofthe plug; member 50; A: compression spring 1-5.8 presses upon thetop of the head [54 to urge the head against its seat 36.. upper end. of the spring lisisreceived-within a hollow screwbelt that downwardly; into a. threaded hole directly above the head of the valve'and-on the opposite side-of: the passage 12 Between the stem and the head of the valve is areducedneck; and th'ere xarera dial passages Hi1 (Fig. 2) drilled through the plug: 15! adjacent the valve neck to 'communicate with a circumferential grooveilia which, in turn. communicates with a herizontal boring .155 (Fig 4.) to the outs-ideof the arm' 16' of the press" frame, a-pipe ifil loeing connected with the" outside endof this boring. and leading down to apassageway ZM-in the base 42 ofthe frame for directing and utilizing'the exhaustair in a manner'as will presently appear.

In order to hold the exhaust valve normally open but to-caus'e it to close'before the inlet valve opens, a transverserod' 166' has reduced end portions loosely fitting" within holes in the actuating handles 10 8, transverse rod llfiito engage the exhaust valve stem I52 and to raise the valve from its seat whenever the actuating handles are both raised. By reason oi-the loose connection of the transverse rod 66 with the sion of one handle will cause the rod to tilt and will permit theclosing'spring IEflcf the exhaust valve to-close the valve. Thus, depression of one or the'other, or both of theactuating handles will cause the exhaust valves to close but to open the inlet va1ve both handles must be simultaneously depressed. In this way the exhaust valve will always-be closed before the inlet valve opens and the inlet valve will always close before the exhaust valve" is opened.

In stampin operations, much time can be saved if the" operator is not required to remove the stamped part from the die at the completion of the stamping operation. In order to automatically remove the stamped part, the present invention provides means for lifting the stamping from the-cavity in the lower dieand for blowing the stamped part off the die,. all by utilization of the air that is exhausted when the piston 20 rises after the completion of the stamping operation. V

A die block 200 is bolted upon thebase t2 of the press frame. In order to raise the-stamped part from the block, a plurality of vertically movable pins 202 are provided which mayslide within passageways provided therefor in the die block or bottom die element 204; The lower ends of these pins connect with and move downwardly with a circular disk member 206 which seats upon a free piston 208, which slides within a passage 2l0 bored down into the upper surface of the base l2 of the press frame.

In order that air may have free access to the bottom of the piston 208, this piston is provided with a short stub stem 2l2 extending from its bottom face. For the purpose of delivering exhaust air to the bottom of the lower piston from above the upper or main piston 20, there is provided a passageway from the side face of the base of the press frame leading horizontally into the bottom of the bore H0 and this passage '2 is 1| loin such position as to cause the actuating handles, depresand pressing downwardly upon the disk connected; at itsouter end with: the pipe, 16.4; which, it will be recalled, connects with the1=pas= sage leading to the exhaust-valve;

For; the: purpose of directing exhaust air on the stampedz'lala-nk or stamped part, a; hollow dowel pin'is received. in a verticalbore passing through the die.sblock ..'200.and' through; the base ld into theair passagefiZ 1A.. A-tJthe top the-dowel presents. a. horizontally directed. opening, so that air'issuing therefrom will be directedtagainst the stamped'partsxat ansangle preferably, soxas to blow them away from the die at the conclusion or fire'stamping operation.

From the foregoing, itmay now be observed that when the actuating handles are released; the inlet valve closes and the. exhaust valve is openedzso thatastlre main piston 20 rises under the influence of thespring 32, thew-exhaust :air abovethe piston head will be forced through the passages 10 and 12., and exhaust passage I55. intothe pipe: Hi4 andthrough the passage 2l4to anoint: beneath the -smallzlower. piston 208iwhich will thereupon be forced. upwardly, pushing the pins 202:.upwardly andcausing the stamped part to risefro'm the. die 2M. Simultaneously, apertion ofthis exhaust air will pass through theho'llow dowel pin 220-:and issuing at the. top, will blow the Y stamped parts away from the die;

Mtertheairhasbecome exhausted, the pastraising piston 208 and the rods 202' associated therewitnreturn totheir original position. The retizlm to the. original. position is accomplished by: gravity acting :onthe assisted by small springs. coiled about thesh'anks of the pins 202 206., which is at thebottom end ofthese pins;

the foregoing; it will "be observed that the invention: requires the operator to utilize 'both hands. to -operate the; press, thus making it impossiblefor the. operator to. accidentally operate the press while his hands are in the path of the die.

'One of the valuable featuresn'f the invention that it provides. mechanism for opening the inlet. valve withauui'ck or snap motion so that theruli impact of the live air will at once act on the piston which operates the-upper die. That causes the piston to move the upper die with a hammer-dike. blow against the lower die. The invention alsoprovides for the use of a minimum amount; of: live air, since itis only used for operating themes in cnedirection. The invention, nevertheless, provides for blowin off or awaythe stamped-partzby the utilization of the exhausted air to not. only raise the stamped part from the lower die but also blow it away into a convenient- 1y placed receptacle. It will be noted that the energy: which is overcome by the live air in operating theupper die piston against its biasing spring utilized with telling effecton the upward movement of the piston for forcing the exhaust: air into useful channels.

In some uses of the invention, the press secures several parts by riveting or otherwise. Such assemblies are sometimes too heavy to be blown off the lower die. Nevertheless, the invention is useful in such cases without the blow-off, the assembly being taken off the die by hand or pushed off after it has been elevated or ejected from the die by the means hereinbefore described.

In cases where dual hand control is not deemed important or is not desired, as may sometimes be the case, the means for the sudden opening of the inlet valve may still be utilized together (if desired) with the utilization of exhaust air to 7 accomplish ejection of the stamped part from the die.

Thus although my invention possesses novel features all of which cooperate functionally to produce desired results, they are nevertheless individually valuable; and all or only some features may be used as occasion requires.

Many modifications within the scope of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore I do not limit the invention to the specific embodiments described and illustrated.

I claim:

1. In an air-operated press, an air-operated piston, cooperating dies one of which is moved by said piston, inlet and exhaust valves controlling flow of air to and from said piston, cooperating means operating in coordination with the return stroke of said piston utilizing air exhausted by said return stroke to elevate a stamped article from the bottom die and to dire-ct an air blast against said article to remove it from the die.

2. In a press, an air-operated piston, cooperating dies one of which is moved by said piston, inlet and exhaust air passages, valve means controlling the flow .of air through said passages to and from said piston, means to cause closing of said exhaust passage prior to opening said inlet passage and vice versa, means for removing a stamping from said dies utilizing air exhausted by the return stroke of said piston, said removing means comprising a pneumatically-operated element for moving the stamping relative to the die, and means for directing a blast of exhausted air against the moved stamping to remove it from the die.

3. In an air-operated press, a pair of manual actuating handles, an air-operated piston, cooperating dies one of which is moved by said piston, inlet and exhaust valves operable by said handles controlling the flow of air to and from said piston, and means associated with said handles and said inlet valve for causing sudden opening of said valve, said opening means becoming effective only upon concomitant operation of both handles, and

means associated with said handles for causing movement of said exhaust valve to closed position on actuation of either handle.

4. In an air-operated press, a pair of manual actuating handles, an air-operated piston, cooperating dies one of which is moved by said piston, inlet and exhaust valves operable by said handles controlling the flow of air to and from said piston, means associated with said handles and said inlet valve for causing sudden opening of said valve, said opening means becoming effective only upon concomitant operation of both handles, and means associated with said handles for causing movement of said exhaust valve to closed position on actuation of either handle and requiring release of both handles before said exhaust valve may open.

5. In an air-operated press, a pair of manual actuatin handles, an air-operated piston, coopcrating dies one of which is moved by said piston, inlet and exhaust valves operable by said handles controlling the flow of air to and from said piston, and means associated with said handles and said inlet valve for causing sudden opening of said valve, said opening means comprising means acting on said inlet valve, means placed under stress by movement of said handles, and latching means restraining said means-acting-on-saidvalve from opening said valve until both handles are operated.

6. In an air-operated press, a. pair of manual actuating handles, an air-operated piston, inlet and. exhaust valves controlling the flow of air to and from said piston, mechanism for operating said valves on actuation of said handles comprising dual latched members, dual latching members and means acting to open said inlet valve only when both latched members are released.

7. In an air-operated press, a pair of manual actuatin handles, an air-operated piston, inlet and exhaust valves, controlling the flow of air to and from said piston, mechanism for operating said valves on actuation of said handles comprising a latched member and at latching member associated with each handle, means controlled by said members and acting to open said inlet valve only when both latched members are released.

' URI D. FOSTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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